Joseph Sandiford Atwell was born on July 1, 1831, in Barbados. After completing his education at Codrington College, an Anglican school on that island, he moved to the United States in 1863 and attended Divinity Hall, forerunner of the Philadelphia Divinity School, from which he graduated in 1866. He also raised funds to help residents of Barbados immigrate to Liberia. The emancipation of four million people from slavery drew Atwell to the southern states to participate in the Episcopal Church’s efforts to evangelize the freedpeople. The church’s American Missionary Society sent him first...